Absolute Truth
“According to Buddhism, the Absolute Truth is that there is
nothing absolute in the world, that everything is relative, conditioned and
impermanent, and that there is no unchanging, everlasting, absolute substance
like Self, Soul or Atman within or without. This is the Absolute Truth.
Truth is never negative, though there is a popular expression of a negative
truth. The realization of this Truth, i.e., to see things as they are (yathabhutam)
without illusion or ignorance (avijja), is the extinction of craving
'thirst' (Tanhakkhaya), and the cessation (Nirodha) of dukkha, which is Nirvana." (p.39)
The Four Noble Truths
“The heart of Buddha’s teaching lies in the Four Noble Truths
…” “The Four Noble Truths are:
- Dukkha
- Samudaya, the arising or origin of dukkha,
- Nirodha, the cessation of dukkha
- Magga, the way leading to the cessation of dukkha.” (p.16)
The First Noble Truth:
Dukkha
The First Noble Truth is often misunderstood. “It is admitted
that the term dukkha in the First
Noble Truth contains, quite obviously, the ordinary meaning of ‘suffering’, but
in addition it also includes deeper ideas such as ‘imperfection’, ‘impermanence’,
‘emptiness’ and ‘insubstantiality’.” It should not simply be translated as ‘suffering.
(p.17)
“This in short is the meaning of the Noble Truth of Dukkha. It is extremely important to
understand this First Noble Truth clearly because, as the Buddha says, ‘he who
sees dukkha sees also the arising of dukkha, sees also the cessation of dukkha, and sees also the path leading
to the cessation of dukkha.” (p.27)
The Second Noble Truth:
Samudaya – the Arising of Dukkha
“The second noble truth is that of the arising or origin of dukkha. It is this ‘thirst’ (craving; tanha) which produces re-existence and
re-becoming (ponobhavika) and which
is bound up with passionate greed (nandiragasahagata),
and which finds fresh delight now here and now there (tatratatrabhinandini), namely, (1) thirst for sense-pleasures (kama-tanha),
(2) thirst for existence and becoming (bhava-tanha) and (3) thirst for non-existence
(self-annihilation; vibhava-tanha). It is this ‘thirst’, desire,
greed, craving, manifesting itself in various ways, that gives rise to all
forms of suffering and the continuity of beings.” (p.29)
The Third Noble Truth:
Nirodha – the cessation of Dukkha
The third Noble truth is that there is emancipation,
liberation, freedom from suffering, from the continuity of dukkha. This is called the Noble Truth of Cessation of dukkha (Dukkahanirodhaariyasacca), which is Nibbana, more popularly known in its Sanskrit form of Nirvana. To eliminate dukkha completely one has to eliminate the
main root of dukkha, which is ‘thirst’
(tanha) as we saw earlier. Therefore
Nirvana is known also by the term Tanhakkhaya
‘Extinction of Thirst’.” (p.35)
The Fourth Noble Truth & Noble Eight-fold Path
The Fourth Noble Truth is that of the Way leading to the
Cessation of Dukkha. This is known as
the ‘Middle Path’… and is generally referred to as the Noble Eightfold Path
because it is composed of eight categories… namely,
1. Right Understanding (Samma ditthi)
2. Right Though (Samma sankappa)
3. Right speech (Samma vaca)
4. Right Action (Samma kammanta)
5. Right Livelihood (Samma ajiva)
6. Right Effort (Samma vayama)
7. Right Mindfulness (Samma sati)
8. Right Concentration (Samma samadhi) (p.45)
The Cessation of Suffering
“What is necessary is not anger or impatience, but the
understanding of the question of suffering, how it comes about, and how to get
rid of it, and then work accordingly with patience, intelligence, determination
and energy (p.28).
Sin
“According to the Buddha’s teaching, doubt (vicikiccha) is one of the five
Hindrances (nivarana) to the clear
understanding of Truth and to spiritual progress (or for that matter to any
progress). Doubt, however, is not a ‘sin’, because there are no articles of
faith in Buddhism. In fact, there is no ‘sin’ in Buddhism, as sin is understood
in some religions. The root of all evil is ignorance (avijja) and false views (miccha
ditthi).” (p.3)
The Five Aggregates
“Elsewhere he distinctly defines dukkha as the five aggregates:
1. Matter (Rupakkhandha) “The whole realm of matter, both internal and external
is included in the Aggregate of Matter.”
2. Sensations (Vedanakkhandha) “In this group are included are all our sensations,
pleasant or unpleasant or neutral, experienced through the contact of the physical
and mental organs with the external world. They are of six kinds: eyes, ears,
nose, tongue, body and mind).”
3. Perceptions (Sannakkhandha) “Like sensations, perceptions are also of six kinds …
It is the perceptions that recognise objects whether physical or mental.”
4. Mental Formations (Samkharakkhandha) “There are 52 such
mental activities which constitute the Aggregate of Mental Formations”.
5. Consciousness (Vinnanakkhandha) “Consciousness is a reaction or response which has
one of the six faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind) as its basis,
and one of the six corresponding external phenomena (visible form, odour, taste
tangible things and mind-objects such as an idea or thought) as its object.”
(p.20)
The Self
“It must be repeated here that according to Buddhist
philosophy there is no permanent, unchanging spirit which can be considered
‘Self’, or ‘Soul’, or ‘Ego’, as opposed to matter, and that consciousness (vinnana) should not be taken as ‘spirit’
in opposition to matter.” (p.23)
“Buddhism stands unique in the history of human thought in
denying the existence of such a Soul, Self, or Atman. According to the teachings of the Buddha, the idea of self
is an imaginary, false belief which has no corresponding reality, and it
produces harmful thoughts of ‘me’ and ‘mine’ selfish desire, craving,
attachment, hatred, ill-will, conceit, pride, egoism, and other defilements,
impurities and problems.” (p51)
Nirvana
When wisdom is developed and cultivated according to the
Fourth Noble Truth, it sees the secret of life, the reality of things as they
are. When the secret is discovered, when the Truth is seen, all the forces
which feverishly produce the continuity of samsara
in illusion become calm and incapable of producing any more karma-formations
because there is no more illusion, no more ‘thirst’ for continuity.” (p.43)
Meditation (Bhavana)
“The Buddha’s teaching, particularly his way of ‘meditation’,
aims at producing a state of perfect mental health, equilibrium and tranquility
… The Buddhist bhavana, properly
speaking, is mental culture in the full sense of the term. It aims at cleansing
the mind of impurities and disturbances, such as lustful desires, hatred,
ill-will, indolence, worries and restlessness, sceptical doubts and cultivating
such qualities such as concentration, awareness, intelligence, will, energy,
the analytical faculty, confidence, joy, tranquillity, leading finally to the attainment
of highest wisdom which sees the nature of things as they are, and realizes the
Ultimate Truth, Nirvana.”
There are two forms of meditation. One is the development of
mental concentration (samatha or samadhi), of one-pointedness of mind (cittekaggata) … He therefore discovered
another form of ‘meditation’ known as vipassana,
‘Insight’ into the nature of things, leading to the complete liberation of
mind, to the realization of the Ultimate Truth, Nirvana. This is essentially
Buddhist ‘meditation’, Buddhist mental culture. It is an analytical method
based on mindfulness, awareness, vigilance, observation.” (pp. 67-69)
Universal Love (Metta-sutta)
“(Brahma-vihara): (1) extending unlimited,
universal love and good-will (metta)
to all living beings without any kind of discrimination, ‘just as a mother
loves her only child’; (2) compassion (karuna)
for all living beings who are suffering, in trouble and affliction; (3)
sympathetic joy (mudita) in others’ success,
welfare and happiness; and (4) equanimity (upekkha)
in all vicissitudes of life.” (p.75)
"May all beings be happy and secure; may their minds be contented.
Whatever living beings there may be – feeble or strong, long (or tall), stout,
or medium, short, or large, seen or unseen, those dwelling far or near, those
who are born and those who are yet to be born – may all beings, without
exception, be happy-minded!" (p.97)
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